NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-17-2025 12AM EDT

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

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You want to follow what's happening in Washington, D.C., but you don't want to be scrolling your phone all day. I'm Scott Detrow, and NPR has a podcast that can help. It's called Trump's Terms, stories about big changes the 47th president is pursuing on his own terms. They're short, they're focused episodes that tell you calmly, factually, what is happening and what isn't. Listen to Trump's Term terms from NPR.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. The Trump administration is refusing to budge on the case of Kilmore Obrego-Garcia as the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says Obrego-Garcia is a gang member who will never live in the U.S. again. And the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the president of the United States and the secretary of state could not be compelled to forcibly retrieve this citizen of El Salvador who is currently locked up in a maximum security prison in his home country

due to his MS-13 membership. The Supreme Court has ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return and to process him as if he never left. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland says he was denied access to Abrego Garcia during a trip to El Salvador on Wednesday. The day after NPR broke the story on a whistleblower's concerns about Doge's activities at his agency, several representatives from the cost-cutting initiative visited that agency's headquarters. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin has the story.

In recent days, a whistleblower working in the IT department of a small independent federal agency filed an official disclosure with Congress and spoke to NPR. Daniel Baroulis works for the National Labor Relations Board, which protects employees' rights to unionize. He says Doge requested the highest level access right before a large chunk of data was removed from the system. The NLRB told NPR that it never authorized access to the systems. Then, a day later, senior officials at NLRB sent an email obtained by NPR, revealing that Doge had made its first official visit to the agency

and that two Doge representatives will be working there part-time. NLRB says they will comply with Doge's requests but will remove personal data from records before sharing them. Jenna McLaughlin, NPR News. China has harshly criticized U.S. levies on its goods, though many of its electronic products are exempt for now. As NPR's Emily Fang reports, China has so far declined to match the U.S. tariffs. Emily Fang, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR

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NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR to the US. These are metals for which China dominates the mining and refining process, and which are critical for defense technologies, some medical treatments, and our consumer electronics. But China's Commerce Ministry called President Trump's tariffs a, quote, joke and has kept its levies on US tariffs at 125%. US customs duties are now already so high, it's prohibitive for most Chinese exporters to sell their goods in the U.S. Instead, China has been reaching out to regional neighbors to boost trade with them. Emily Fang, and Peer News, Washington. On Wall Street, stocks closed lower with the Dow falling 699 points.

U.S. futures are higher in after-hours trading. You're listening to NPR. Ten guards at an upstate New York prison are facing charges stemming from the death of a 22-year-old inmate, Messiah Nat Wee. Two of the guards are charged with murder, six are accused of assault, and four others are accused of taking part in a cover-up. The incident occurred at the Mid-State Correctional Facility near Utica. Puerto Rico is grappling with an island-wide power outage. As NPR's Greg Allen reports, a privately held company that operates the island's power plants

says that the shutdown was not expected. Janera PR, the company that took over Puerto Rico's power generation two years ago, says the unexpected shutdown caused a massive power outage across the island. The company said it was working to bring back-up power generators online. The outage began around 12.40 p.m. Puerto Rico time. A little later, the island's governor, Jennifer Gonzalez, said her administration was working with the power company and would provide details about the cause of the outage and when service would be restored.

It follows a similar island-wide blackout on New Year's Eve. Puerto Rico has been plagued by power outages and failing infrastructure as its public power company has struggled with bankruptcy. Greg Allen, NPR News. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the administration is suing the state of Maine for not banning transgender athletes in female sports. Bondi says the state is violating Title IX, a federal law that forbids sex-based discrimination in education. But Maine's Governor Janet Mills says the lawsuit is a pressure tactic that is designed to get her state to ignore its own laws on human rights. Maine's Department of Education could lose federal funding if it does not comply.

This is MPPR News.